Teaching First-Year College Students is a thoroughly expanded and updated edition of Teaching College Freshmen, which has become a classic in the field since it was published in 1991. The book offers concrete suggestions about specific strategies and approaches for faculty who teach first-year courses. The new edition is based on the most current research on teaching and learning and incorporates information about the demographic changes that have occurred in student populations since the first edition was published. The updated strategies are designed to help first-year students adjust effectively to both the academic and nonacademic pressures of college. The authors also help faculty understand first-year students and show how their experiences in high school have prepared¾or not prepared¾them for the world of higher education.

Here is a compelling read for every teacher in higher education who wants to refresh or reexamine his or her classroom practice. Building on the insights offered by recent discoveries about the biological basis of learning, and on his own thought-provoking definitions of teaching, learning and education, the author proceeds to the practical details of instruction that teachers are most interested in - the things that make or break teaching. Practical and thoughtful, and based on forty years of teaching, wide reading and much reflection, Robert Leamnson provides teachers with a map to develop their own teaching philosophy, and effective nuts-and-bolts advice. His approach is particularly useful for those facing a cohort of first year students less prepared for college and university. He is concerned to develop in his students habits and skills that will equip them for a lifetime of learning. He is especially alert to the psychology of students. He also understands, and has experienced, the typical frustration and exasperation teachers feel when students ingeniously elude their teachers' loftiest goals and strategies. Most important, he has good advice about how to cope with the challenge. This guide will appeal to college teachers in all disciplines.

Gives new and veteran faculty practical guidance on how to most effectively teach and create academic support systems for college students in their first, most critical year. Describes how to design a useful syllabus, how to develop productive out-of-class assignments, how to enhance class participation through creative techniques, and how to evaluate student learning for better insights.

With the help of this book you can achieve not only your perfect first day, but a successful and productive first year as well. You will learn to take control of your classroom and provide students with a fun and effective setting in which they can actively succeed in your class and beyond. This extensively researched book begins by offering information on how to find the perfect college teaching position. You are provided with valuable information on the different types of academic positions available, from teaching assistant to tenure and on how to search for these positions. You will learn about how the position you chose will affect your family and personal life, what to look for in a benefits package, and what benefits different types of colleges can provide. Important information that you need to know before accepting a position will be provided to you. A complete overview of understanding faculty contracts and faculty unions is included as well as an introduction to the academic environment that will surround you as you begin your new career as a college instructor. Once you have accepted your new position, the book prepares you for that first day of class. You learn how to structure your course, select textbooks, design and implement your syllabus, establish classroom policies, and interpret university policies on grading, student evaluation, plagiarism, and other grievances. Most new college instructors spend months worrying about how to break the ice during the first week of class. Helpful ideas for winning over your new students are provided as well as tips for making lasting first impressions. First-year teachers will benefit from the discussion on the three stages of teaching a lesson as well as tips for keeping students interested during lectures, the pros and cons of using discussion groups in the classroom, and how to use small groups as an alternative approach to traditional instruction. Most importantly, a complete chapter has been included on relating and getting to know your new set of students. College students in the 21st century are a diverse group. It is important to understand what life is like for today's college student and how these students think and learn in order to effectively do their job. Even more complicated can be trying to keep up with the fast paced technology that students today are accustomed to. An important chapter on teaching in the digital age will provide valuable information on online courses, using technology in the classroom, and e-mail protocol. In the appendices, new college instructors will find a complete overview of academic terminology and a sample syllabus, lecture outline, and course design. Helpful case studies by second-year and veteran college instructors provide insider strategies and proven techniques for surviving your first year as a college instructor.

Whether the new instructor of first-year composition looks forward to that first class period with anticipation, dread, or a mix of emotions, Strategies for Teaching First-Year Composition offers guidance, reassurance, and thoughtful commentary on the many activities leading up to and surrounding classroom instruction: What preparation do I need to teach first-year comp? How do I construct a syllabus? How do I develop effective writing assignments? Why am I teaching writing at all? And what's the place of writing in a university education? The texts included in this collection respond to these questions and many others with ideas, suggestions, and experiences from both veteran and new teachers. And because writing instruction takes place in a variety of educational contexts, readers will find chapters and suggestions written by instructors who teach in community colleges, liberal arts colleges, state university systems, and research institutions.--Publisher description.

Praise for Developing and Sustaining Successful First-Year Programs "An essential guide to the thorny task of not only developing successful first-year programs, the critical building blocks for student college completion, but also sustaining them over time. It should be at the top of the reading list of all faculty, staff, and administrators concerned with making substantial improvements in student success in the first year of college." —Vincent Tinto, Distinguished University Professor, Syracuse University "Grounded in scholarly literature and higher education theory, Developing and Sustaining Successful First-Year Programs provides a much-needed next-generation resource to advance a comprehensive, integrated, and multi-faceted first-year experience as well as practical guidance to educators who want to become more effective first-year student advocates." —Jillian Kinzie, associate director, Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, NSSE Institute "The authors do an excellent job both of providing a conceptual framework for the first year and of grounding their program descriptions in the work of a diverse range of campuses, providing exemplars of good practice, centered on assessment, in enhancing student academic achievement and persistence. The book will be of use both to policy makers and administrators focused on enhancing student success and to practitioners who will make good use of excellent observations and recommendations." —Scott Evenbeck, president, The New Community College at CUNY

Feeling out of touch with her students, an anthropology professor describes how she enrolled as a freshman student at college in order to gain new insight into modern-day undergraduate culture. Reprint. 40,000 first printing.

An authoritative, comprehensive guide to the first year of college, Challenging and Supporting the First Year Student includes the most current information about the policies, strategies, programs, and services designed to help first-year students make a successful transition to college and fulfill their educational and personal goals.

For first-year teachers entering the nations urban schools, the task of establishing a strong and successful practice is often extremely challenging. In this compelling look at first-year teachers practice in urban schools, editors Jabari Mahiri and Sarah Warshauer Freedman demonstrate how a program of systematic classroom research by teachers themselves enables them to effectively target instruction and improve their own practice. The book organizes the teachers research into three broad areas, corresponding to issues the new teachers identified as the most challenging: Crafting Curriculumhow to engage students in learning curricular content, develop their abilities to meet standards, and prepare them for college or careers. Complicating Culturehow to build on the different languages and cultures found in contemporary schools. Conceptualizing Controlhow to manage a classroom of 30 or more teenagers and create a climate where learning can take place. The First Year of Teaching offers an array of classroom scenarios that will spark in-depth discussions in teacher preparation classes and professional development workshops, particularly in the context of problem-based, problem-posing pedagogies. The First Year of Teaching offers us knowledge about urban schools which we could only get by academics and teachers working together. Documenting three themes concerning the complications of curriculum, culture, and control, we learn significant practices that make a difference for new teachers and their students. This is a must-read for teachers, researchers, and policymakers who want to improve urban education now. Ann Lieberman, senior scholar, Stanford University This volume marvelously demonstrates how teaching and learning can be improved by positioning new teachers as researchers within a systematic process for increasing their effectiveness in complex, diverse city schools. Through each seamlessly integrated chapter the authors show us how critical teacher inquiry can provide the meaningful insight and stance needed to inspire engaged pedagogical practice. The First Year of Teaching will serve as a tremendous resource for preservice teacher education, professional development programs across the career span, and university classes on urban education and teacher learning. Ernest Morrell, director, Institute for Urban and Minority Education, Teachers College, Columbia University

Winner of the Virginia and Warren Stone Prize awarded annually by Harvard University Press for an outstanding book on education and society What makes a great teacher great? Who are the professors students remember long after graduation? This book, the conclusion of a fifteen-year study of nearly one hundred college teachers in a wide variety of fields and universities, offers valuable answers for all educators. The short answer is—it's not what teachers do, it's what they understand. Lesson plans and lecture notes matter less than the special way teachers comprehend the subject and value human learning. Whether historians or physicists, in El Paso or St. Paul, the best teachers know their subjects inside and out—but they also know how to engage and challenge students and to provoke impassioned responses. Most of all, they believe two things fervently: that teaching matters and that students can learn.